new to archery and he forums

hey all. so i went to Cabelas last weekend and fired a bow for the first time ever and i have completely fallen in love. I tried several bows mostly from bear and PSE. Then i tried the Diamond fugitive rak. It seems that it is a perfect fit for me. nice smooth draw. I don't even feel the release. i have a 26in draw at 60#'s. 600 is a bit more than i wanted to spend but this coming paycheck I'm going to pick it up. I then did some research and i think im suppose to be shooting a 400 spine 300 grain arrow including the 100 target tip to maximize FPS. I plan to target shoot this year. I want to make sure i am proficient with the bow before i go wound an animal. I have hunted with a rifle since I was 10. had my first .22 at 8 and can tell its definitely different using a bow. I have a couple questions however. 1. Should i use a heavier tip if i plan to hunt next year to become accustomed to shooting with the same setup? 2. is 300g heavy enough to take down say a whitetail? I want to use the carbon arrows as everywhere i have read says they are overall better in longevity and in use. I am not sure the type of rest that comes with the bow; however, the gentleman at Cabelas said i would probably want to upgrade to a drop away rest as it effects your accuracy greatly. I'm not sure if this is true or not but he seemed on the up an up. well i have bounced around to a lot of different questions not sure how to categorize as i only have shot for about an hour at Cabelas. I do know that im hooked. and cant wait to get this bow and get out shooting. any advice would be greatly appreciated. please forgive my ineptitude I'm trying to learn. here is the link to the setup i plan to purchase. Sorry i cannot get it to hyperlink. Thank you again for the help

hello and welcome to the site. 400 would be the correct spine. I would go with a heavier arrow for hunting, I would try and get close to 400 grains for total arrow weight. For the target shooting it really depends on what targets u are shooting. If your doing spot shooting, I would go with a heavier and a longer arrow, if you are shooting 3d then get as close as you can to the 300 grains.

hoyt rampage xt vs diamond fugitive

So i went to the local pro shop today and spoke to the owner for about 20 minutes. He said that a Hoyt bow is a much better quality bow than an out of the box bow like the diamond fugitive. I shot the rampage XT and it seemed to be much smoother. he said he could set me up with a full package true glow 5 pin sights a 5in stabilizer 6 arrow quiver and a whisker biscuit rest for 600 dollars same as the fugitive package but he says it is a much better bow. The bow draw is much smoother but i cannot yet tell the difference in vibration or really anything else as i have only shot each a handful of times. The pro shop owner said that Hoyt bows were a step up from the Diamond,Bow tech, and Bear bows that you get from normal vendor stores. Is this true? I am really kinda torn now between the two and honestly am not sure which is better quality. He did say that the Hoyt bow came with a lifetime warranty. I don't believe the diamond bow comes with one. could any of you lend your experience with the manufactures. It would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to buy one this Monday. About the same price but which is a better bow? again i'm looking to target shoot for this year until deer season next year which hopefully i will be proficient enough to go out and get some good jerky and steaks. Thanks again for the help.

You should get better service from a pro shop. As far as a better bow that is an opinion of 1 person. In today's market there are a lot of top quality bows out there. Go with what fits you the best. I have owned them all and will not tell you one is better than the other. I am shooting Athens now and when I first got one some of my buddies thought I was crazy but now they are also shooting them.

Reap, you are echoing my questions. I have been looking too, and man, it is hard to decide when money is tight! I have even been looking at used bows, found a Mathews Mission X3 totally set up for $450, but I am torn as to which way to go. All I can say, is please let us know how you decide. I do think kebees is kind of right about all of them being pretty good. My problem has been that I have to go to so many different places to try different brands. And, the guys usually are pushing something on me that doesn't quite feel right when I shoot it. Oh well, good shopping!

Made my decision

Well I have made my decision. I have decided on the hoyt rampage xt. Set up it it will be about 600 bucks. Gotta love the military discount. I went to the local pro shop. Definetly the right choice. Thank you all for the advice. So I told the owner what I was looking for and price range I am working with. Im getting the rampage xt with a 6 arrow 2 piece quiver, trueglow 5 pin sight. whisker biscut rest so i wont have any issues losing the arrow off the rest as i am new to shooting, and a 5 inch stabalizer. The reason I decided on this bow was it is extremely smooth on the draw. It just feels roght on the draw and release. It is a little slower than the diamon fugitive but it just feels right. I have come to agree with everyone here on the forums. The brand dosent matter that much, its how the bow feels to you. It is very quiet and I really dont feel it when I shoot. vibration is pretty low. As for accuracy I assume its mainly on you as the shooter but I was very impressed when the owner took 3 shoots with this bow at his indoor range. The first and second were touching. he split the 1st arrow down to the middle of the first arrows shaft. First time I have ever seen that done. He explained that the hoyt bows are very accurate and offer a lifetime warranty to boot. The owner is really squaring me away so I put it on layaway and will have it paid off 1 Nov. For 700 with tax im getting the bow all set up, release and a dozen gold tip arrows. At first I was worried if I was getting the best bow for my buck but all of those worries have been laid to rest now. I have fallen in love with this bow. I hope you get the one that fits you as well. I recommend going to a pro shop that you feel comfortable in. I think its definetly worth the few extra dollars for the experience and service you will get compared to other places. I cant wait to get out there and start shooting every day... or at least on weekends. Family duties and work allowing.

As far as traveling to shoot it is a pain im in eastern WA State now at fort lewis. I had to make a few drives to try them out. Going to Cabelas or a shop like that initally is very helpful as they have a decent selection. There were only 2 pro shops round me to go to. I lucked out tho as between the 2 they carried almost every brand of bow you can buy. Hopefully there is a bit more of selection where your at. Is it normal for an area only to have a couple places to buy Bow equipment. I traveled proably in a area of 50 miles to find the right bow. Its definetly worth the time to get the right one. Good luck and let me know how it works out for you.

Last edited by reaper; 10-03-2011 at 11:52 AM.
Reason: Awnsering a question

Congratulations, Reap! Sounds like you made a great choice! I don't think I have ever even seen a Hoyt; closest dealer to me is about 75 miles away. I have been reading very good things about Hoyt though, and do not want to buy until I can try one out.

One dealer near me has only Bowtech; one has Mathews and PSE; that's it! I am just going to wait until I can get to some other dealers. I really want to shoot a Hoyt.

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